Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

Ellis Jones.Photo: Bobby Doherty

"When Ellis Jones was named editor-in-chief of Vice magazine in February, she received a flood of emails from aspiring contributors who opened their pitches with a crucial error. 'They were all like, 'Dear Mr. Jones …,' she says between sips of a Narragansett poured from the steady-flowing tap at the Gutter, a divey Williamsburg bowling alley just a few convenient blocks from the Vice headquarters. Here, Jones partakes in a weekly bowling league with a group of dude friends. They’re fresh off a big loss. 'People who haven’t met me always assume I’m a dude,' she says. One could be forgiven for assuming the name Ellis (she chose her middle over her first name, Lauren, as a kid) belongs to a man. One could also be forgiven for assuming that the new editor-in-chief of Vice, a publication historically characterized by a lewd masculinity, would be a guy. As the first female editor-in-chief in Vice magazine’s two decades, the 30-year-old Jones will be forced to shake off some other less literal misconceptions about her gender and her employer. Like the idea that the company is a hedonistic fun-house for alt bros in the mold of its long-departed co-founder, Gavin McInnes (who’s known for things like 'The Vice Guide to Eating Pussy,' along with some post-Vice charges of white supremacy and transphobia). Vice has undergone a slow but dramatic maturation: The company’s current COO Alyssa Mastromonaco is not only a woman, but a former White House staffer. 'I’m trying to figure out how to bring in an audience we never had before,' Jones says. 'To make them realize that it’s not a lad’s mag, and that we don’t just do dick and fart jokes.'" (NYMag)

Barbara Walters and Monica Lewinsky on "20/20" in 1999

"Barbara Walters, the retired mother hen of 'The View,' has the perfect antidote for ABC’s ratings-challenged gabfest – Monica Lewinsky, according to a report. The legendary newswoman, who created the show, says the world’s most famous former White House intern would be a 'runaway success,' the Daily Mail Online reports, citing a network source. 'Barbara believes that Monica could make ‘The View’ competitive and compelling, and while a lot of Washington’s elite may scratch the show off its must-visit press list, the younger demographic of online users would tune in daily to see what she had to say,' the source told the site. Walters – who sold rights to 'The View' back to ABC a year before she retired in May 2014 – has reached out to ABC News James Goldston and Ben Sherwood, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, insiders told Daily Mail Online." (P6)